Can you name the top 12 brightest objects in the solar system? How many have you seen without the aid of binoculars or a telescope? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/what-are-the-brightest-objects-in-our-solar-system…
Tag: Ceres
Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says
A new paper proposes building a ‘megasatellite’ of human habitats around the dwarf planet Ceres. Source: https://www.livescience.com/megasatellite-colony-ceres-oneill-cylinder.html
Last quarter moon and Spica mornings of January 6 and 7
Use the moon to guide your eye to Spica before daybreak on January 6 and 7, 2021, and look forward to this star’s all-night appearance in April. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-spica-from-late-night-till-dawn…
220 years ago today: 1st asteroid discovered
Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the asteroid Ceres – now considered a dwarf planet – on January 1, 1801. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jan-1-1801-discovery-of-ceres…
An Asteroid the Size of a Dwarf Planet Is Lurking In Our Solar System
Long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot summarizes an article from LiveScience: There’s a giant asteroid somewhere out in the solar system, and it hurled a big rock at Earth. The evidence for this mystery space rock comes from a diamond-studded meteor that exploded over Sudan in 2008. NASA had spotted the 9-ton (8,200 kilograms), 13-foot (4 meters) meteor heading toward the planet well…
Ancient life signs under dinosaur-killing Chicxulub crater
Researchers have found evidence for an ancient microbial ecosystem in a hydrothermal system beneath Mexico’s Chicxulub Crater, thought to be the site of the impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/dinosaur-killing-chicxulub-impact-crater-hydrothermal-microbial…
Top 10 things to know about asteroid Bennu
Take a video tour of asteroid Bennu’s remarkable terrain and read a list of 10 cool things scientists know about this pristine remnant from the early days of our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-10-things-to-know-about-asteroid-bennu-video-tour…
Large asteroid will pass safely November 29, closer in subsequent flybys
A large asteroid will pass Earth at more than 11 times the moon’s distance on November 29, 2020, and will approach more closely in later flybys. Charts here for telescope users. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-2000-wo107-nov-2020-flyby-then-closer…
Salt Water Remnants on Ceres
Does Ceres have underground pockets of water? Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Ceres’ bright spots come from salty water below
The mysterious bright spots on Ceres caused a sensation when the Dawn spacecraft first spied them in 2015. Now, they’re known to be salt deposits from a recent or ongoing percolation of briny water from a large reservoir in Ceres’ interior. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/bright-areas-dwarf-planet-ceres-salty-water-below…